Snowboarding...fitness problems...

Rockiemalt

I have booked to go to Kaprun in Austria for a week on 28th february. That is giving me a month to get some degree of fitness...I do absolutely feck all at the moment, any suggestions welcomed!

GuanYin

Sit ups and push ups!!

Are you a newbie? People starting out tend to fall alot. You'll be pushing yourself up via the edge of your board, so your abs and your arms will get more of a workout than you realize.


Other than that, aerobic fitness helps, you'll be at altitude

Rockiemalt

Oh sit ups and push up sounds scary, esp as I'm a lady but necessary!
I've had 4 lessons in Kilternan so I can do the basic stuff, standing up and not falling off the drag lift...
I have surprising muscly arms as my car ain't got power steering, many people have commented on them. I know my legs were wrecked after and hour or 2 up in kilternan so I think i need to do something with them

GuanYin

Rockiemalt wrote: »

Oh sit ups and push up sounds scary, esp as I'm a lady but necessary!

*cough* why would that matter? *cough*

I've had 4 lessons in Kilternan so I can do the basic stuff, standing up and not falling off the drag lift...
I have surprising muscly arms as my car ain't got power steering, many people have commented on them. I know my legs were wrecked after and hour or 2 up in kilternan so I think i need to do something with them

I don't know where that is, I live in the Rocky Mountains

Your legs are going to get a work out regardless, I play soccer 4-5 times a week, run, mountain-bike and play tennis. My legs are in pretty good shape and even I hurt when I snowboard (maybe 5-6 days a month). That is just down to the fact that the bindings force you to use leg muscles you don't normally use.

My legs are proportionally long for my body, so I tend to get up turtle-style (ie. I flip to my front and push up onto my edge). Really most people prefer to come up on their heel-edge. It is less of a stress on the abs but harder on the arms, you may fair better like that.

As I said, if you actually wanna work out for it, I'd do some light cardio and work on the abs.

RATM

Agree with above, work on abs if you are a beginner. If you are intermediate then work on your leg muscles- do leg curls on a weight resistance machine ( backwards and forwards ) to strengthen calf and thigh muscles.

Remember your stance is almost like you are hovering over a toilet seat so your thigh muscles have to be strong to last the whole week without muscle strains.

On a single run you could put in 150-250 turns so it is a lot of wear and tear on the legs and also on muscles that dont normally get used during other activities like walking. So the best thing to do is strengthen them before you head off and do this strenous activity 6 days in a row for 6 or so hours a day.

You've only a month, get down that gym at least 3 times a week quick smart:D

olaola

Do as much CV as you can before now and then. Squats, lunges and some core work.

Imposter

How are you set-up for exercising?
Do you have access to a gym and/or weights?

Assuming you don't, then running/biking or any type of cardio would be good.
Bodyweight exercises like press-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, step-ups and wall-sits would also be good.

paddyb

any fitess you get before you go will help you. Going running or cycling are probably the easiest options

househunter

I don't know if skiing works the same muscles but I went for the first time last year and did loads of squats and lunges for a few weeks before going and it really helped. I had no soreness in my legs.

My arms, on the other hand were a different story. I hadn't factored in the picking myself up off the ground go often. My arms were killing me!

WillyWonka

Jaysus I've only 8 days! Better do something!

Don1

Be sure if you're working on your legs to balance the workout properly. I didn't and knackere my knees over the course of a season by only doing squats.

Rockiemalt

I'm not a member of a gym and dont realy want to join up just for a month! I've been swimming a few times and will do some running/walking I think. thanks for the replies everybody..

tywy

I found snowboarding less sore on the legs than skiing. My stomach muscles and upper body muscles are frickin' sore now after a week though!

Rockiemalt

If it just snows a little bit more i can exercise by actually snowboarding down the hill in front of my house!

Q_Ball

If I'd have had a snowboard I'd have been out on the hill outside my apartment yesterday! But I didn't, so I tore two holes in a black bag for my legs and threw myself arse-first down the hill instead. It was great prep for what I'm going to be spending most of my time doing in Arinsal next month!

Bloody knackered now though, CV seems to be the way to go. Also if you get shin splints be sure to stretch them out as much as possible before the board goes on. I didn't and suffered last year